Signaling apparatus.



J. A. KEESEY` SIGNALING APPARATUS.

APPLICATIQN FILED DEC. 5. i916.

Patented Apr. 9,. 19H3.

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SIGNALING' Arriere-Artis.

Specicat-ion of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 9, 19,18.

Y Application mea December 5, 191e. serial no. 135,163.

To all *whomz'tmy concern: y A

Be it known vthat I, Joran ARTHUR Knnsna, a citizen or' the United States, Aresiding at moklyn, 4'County of King's, and Sta't'enoii' New York, have invented a new 'andusetul Signaling Apparatna 'oit which the following is va speciii'cation.

The signaling apparatus forming 'the subject or this invention belongs to that dass of mechanically operated signals .in which both aural and visual ysignals 'are used. When such a system yis used 'as a means of intercomm'unicati'on between stations or distant places similar signaling 'apparatus are located at each station, suitably 'mechanically connected; as 'applied to ships the 'places of communication may be the bridge, 'engine room, the stern and forward part 'of the vessel, `connected up to meet special requirements. The appara'tns includes fa sound producer, generally a gong, an -indi'catii'ig dial with special orders or messages mar red or inscribed thereon, and a pointer adapted tobe set at or over any of the orders. The sounding of the Vgong 'notifies the receiving attendant an order is being fsent, thus calling his attention to the fact that the order is indicated on 'the dial. The operating parts of :the signaling 'apparatus atthe "d'if'erent stations are generally y'coiiiiected together byrods and cablesuo'r chains. These transmitting rods,&c., often become slack, from wear and other causes, to vsuch an extent that while the pointer may 'be moved from one einer division 4of the dial, partly overA an adjoining order 'division the lgong striking mechanism may ffailto act, so, vunless the attendant is continuously observing the dial the order will not be immediately noticed, and when noticed the eiie'cntin of the order may be deleteriously delayed.`

y The primary object 'of my present invention is to overcome or'eliminate this objectionable feature of einst-ing lmecha-i'ii'cal signaling systems, andit comprises two or "more gong actuating devices, as' hammers, and means for successively operating them, whereby one or the hammers Vwill be released :from active position to strike the .gong as the pointer is fairly set at a signal korder and the other hammer or hammers released from active position as` the -pointer passes between adjacent signal orders; the arrangement being such as to vmakefit 'practically impossible to move the pointer t`0 'or toward an order without giving auralnotice that the .Sigmlng alOlu'ratus is being manip-u- Alated andan order, or change of orders, is impending.

Theseimprovements with others tending to simplify the construction of fand insnre positiveness of action of mechanical signaling vapparatus will now be Vfully described by reierence to ythe 'accompanying draW-in'fgs, -in lwhich:

Figure 1. is aface view of 'a signaling apparatus embodying my invention.

Fig. 2. a view showing the apparatus kkwith the pointer, dial and gong removed.

Fig. 3. a vertical central section.

Figa. a view of the gong actuating d'evices, detached, illustrative of the operation oii' said devices. f

Fig. 5. an underneath view of the return signal handle and the manner in :which it is connected to an operating vchain and pulley, and: l

Fig. 6. a side elevation of the plate carrying the teeth for the gong striking hainmers.

The kind of signaling japparatus selected for illustrative kpurposes 'of this invention is one adapted for use on ships, particularly in theengine rooins, 'the indicating `dial being marl'red 'with orders or messages usually sent l:trom the bridge to the engine room, as shown in Fig'. l.

7, designates the indicating dial, k8, the pointer, 9 the 'return signal handle'an'd 10, its pointer.

Apparatus similar in character and 'o'peration are loc'ate'd at the ends 'of the communieating line, mechanically yconnected by suitable means. The operating handle 'of the bridge apparatus :actuates the pointer 8, and also sounds a gong, and thel handle 9, similarly actuates the pointer of the bridgeapparatus.

When the engine attendant receives an order he sets the pointer 'of the handle 9, at the 'order indicated on his dial, thus returning the signal to the bridge and notifying the sender'that his 'order is being `or has been eXecnted.

The iframe consists of a base piece 11, having a circnlar flange and with ylugs by which the 'apparatus may be secured in opwith spider arms/'15', by which itis held, by

screws, on the piece 12. The bearing 14,

alines with bearing holes in the centers of.-

the pieces 11 and 12. A gong 16 centrally rests against a shoulder on the bearing 14,

and is held thereagainst by the hub 17, of the dial 7; said hub being screw threaded and seated on or near the outer end of the bearing 14. The dial is rmly held in set posiof the frame through an opening 21, at its upper part. This chain forms a part of the operating means which connects this apparatus to the operating handle of the signal sending apparatus, and it may be in two parts connected to la block, which by means of a rivet 22, is secured in the groove of the pulley.

Two hammersl 25, and 26, on levers 27, and 28, respectively, which have central pivotal bearings on stud 29, extending from the face of the frame piece 12, are by springs 30, 31, connected to the free ends of the lever arms and a bracket 32, caused to strike the gong 16 when the levers are released from their actuating mechanism. On a stud 33, are pivotally held two similarlyy formed double tappets, comprising a lug 34, or 35, by which they are rocked on the stud, and a short and long sweep arm 36, and 37, or 38, and 39, respectively. These arms extend in two directions from the center of oscillation and act vagainst the short arms of the hammer levers 27, 28, the arrangement being such that said arms under the influence of the springs 30, 31, bear against the sweep arms Y of the tappets to normally hold the lugs 34,

35, in central position, indicated in Fig. 2. A plate 40, is, by a pin or other suitable means, Vsecured to the shaft 18, between the frame piece 12, andthe spider arms 15 of the bearing 14. This plate 40 is provided with two sets of teeth 41, and42, in different planes, separated by a groove 43, see Fig. 6.V

The upper or outer set of teeth 41, acts when the plate is rocked in either direction, on the lug 34, of the outer tappet, and the set of teeth 42, similarly acts on the lug 35, of the inner tappet. The teeth 41, and 42, are interspaced, as shown in Fig. 2, so that when a tooth of one of the sets, as a tooth of the set 41, is about to release or drop the lug 34, after tilting the tappet and by its sweep arm 36 has set the hammer Ylever 27, in backward striking position, a tooth 42, of the other set is about to act, or has partly acted, on the lug 35, of the other tappet, as shown in Fig. 4. There will be as many teeth in one set as there are Vchanges of vorders to be V indicated on the dial, and one less in the other. set to produce intermediate sound Y notices. In the particular apparatus shown the number of teeth in the two sets are 8, and 7, respectively. Of course it will be understood that the' apparatus may be made to produce more than one intermediate sound signal without departing from the wnature' of the invention.

As before mentioned the apparatus comprises means for indicating'on a similar ap- Y paratus at the sending stationthat an order or message has been received. Said means consists of the handle 9, pointer 10, a grooved pulley'44, which carries or controls a chain 45. Pulley 44, rotates freely on the shaft 18. VTo insure positiveness lof action and prevent disarrangement of parts, as operating handles of apparatus ofvthis character are often submitted to'suddenV and rough usage, the chain 45,V is positively con- `nected to alug 46, extending from a bracket 47, on and'forming a part of the bar/18, of

theY handle. Y v Y V This lug enters the groove of the pulley 44, and the bracket extends over the rim ofl thepulley. A rivet 49, passes through v the bracket, the lug and the rim of the pulley. Projecting from the inner end of the bar are ears 50, which extendrup thev sides of an arm of the pulley and are bent over said arm, as shown in Fig. 5.v These parts are thusr securely held together, andthe function kof the vpulley is merely to 'holdand guide the chain45, thestrains on the chain being directly on the handle'. Chains p 20, and 45, pass'from and to their pulleys over guide pulleys'51, and 52,-respectively, which are held on shorty pins onshafts 53,

' nearv the opening at the upper `part of the frame. Y Y A An apparatus of this character if provided withonly yone set of gong sounding teeth and onev double actingV tappet, as for instance the set of teeth 42 and tappet 35, 38, 39, is liable to miss giving an aural sig-v nal when the connections between'coperat- ,ingV apparatus, comprising connecting rods and the chains 20, and 45, become slack or relaxed. Under such conditions while the pointer 8, may be moved'over a dividing line of adjacent orders it may often not be moved full normalV signaling. distance. As for instance the pointer may be moved over a space indicated by the dotted lines' and y, Fig. 1, Vthe tappet will not be moved a distance adequately to lsound the gong. The intermediate teeth of the set 41, with its coacting tappet 34, 36, 37, and the extra hammer v25, will positively insure that an aural signal is given under such conditions.

I claim: i

1 A signaling apparatus, comprising a gong, an order or message indicating dial, a pointer therefor, two gong striking hammers, a controller for each hammer, a plate provided with teeth formed and arranged to similarly alternately actuate the controllers of the hammers in both directions of movenient of the plate, and a shaft to which the pointer and plate are connected, whereby as the pointer is moved in either direction from any message to an adjoining one both hammers are caused to strike the gong.

2. A signaling apparatus, comprising a gong, an order or message indicating dial, a pointer therefor, two gong striking hammers, a plate provided with teeth arranged in two sets in different planes adapted to alternately actuate the hammers as the pointer moves from one order to another, and a shaft to which the pointer and plate are connected.

3. A signaling apparatus, comprising a gong', an order or message indicating dial, a pointer therefor, two gong striking hammers, a stud bearing on which the hammers rock, a double acting tappet for each hammer, a plate provided with teeth arranged to alternately actuate the tappets in both directions of movement of the plate, a spring connected to and for throwing each hammer against the gong, and a shaft to which the pointer and plate are connected.

a. A signaling apparatus, comprising a gong, an order or message indicating dial,

a pointer therefor, two gong striking ha1nmers, two sets of teeth in different planes on a plate and adapted to actuate the hammers, one set containing as many teeth as there are changes of orders to be indicated on the dial .and the other one having one less tooth, a spring connected to and for throwing each hammer against the gong, and a shaft to which the pointer and plate are connected, whereby as the pointer is moved in both directions from an order to an adjacent one on the dial both hammers will be actuated.

5. A signaling apparatus, order or message indicating dial, a pointer therefor, means for setting the pointer at any selected order, a signal operating handle provided with a pointer adapted to be set at any of the orders on the indicating dial, a grooved pulley to which the bar of the handle is attached, a bracket extending from said bar and provided with a lug seated in the groove of the pulley, a chain connected to the lug and extending in both directions therefrom in the groove of the pulley and means for securing the handle bar to anarm ofthe pulley.

Signed at New York, county and State of' New York, November, 1916.

JOHN ARTHUR KEESEY.

In thepresence of JAMES A. HUDSON, ALFRED SHEDLOGK.

comprising an Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

